Improvement in the manufacture of elastic rubber straps



0. GOODYEAR, Jr.

Dashboard.

No. 38,674. Patented May 26, 1863.

Wiinesss:

AM.PHOTO-L1THO.CD.N.Y.(OSBWNE'S paccess.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES GOODYEAR, JR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC RUBBER STRAPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,674, dated May 526, 1,863.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES GOODYEAR, J r., of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in dasher or apron straps for buggies or carriages of any kind and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Straps for the apron or dasher of carriages were heretofore most generally made of leather. These were found defective because of their liability to shrink and .dry so that when once unhooked it is almost impossible to hook them again. To obviate this defect, attempts were made to make the straps elastic. To this effect they were made with spiral springs, and even of shirred goods, and other devices have been resorted to, but neither successfully, for want of durability and other causes.

My invention has for its object, first, the production, as a new article, of straps that while presenting all the elements of durability shall be endowed with a certain degree of permanent elasticity sufficient only to allow of the easyhooking of the straps and of their remaining under tension when hooked, so as to prevent the hook and eye from being disconnected second, a method of manufacture of dasher and apron straps whereby the same may be made with ease, facility, and at reduced cost.

My invention consists, first, in the production, as a new article of manufacture, of straps for the apron and dasher of carriages provided with the ordinary hook and eye, combining a certain degree of elasticity with strength and durability, the whole being coated with a cement or varnish impermeable to water; second, in the formation of straps of an extensible fabric, in combination with a vulcanized elastic rubber compound cemented upon one or both sides of the strap; third, in the method of finishing the edge of the straps made of an extensible fabric coated with a vulcanizable rubber compound by forming previous to vulcanization a cemented lap-edge and by indenting the'surface to produce the effect of stitching.

To enable others skilled in the art to make straps according to my invention, I shall now proceed to describe the manner in which the same is or may be manufactured.

I take apiece of fabric known as knit cloth and out the same into strips of about one inch in width and of a length usual for straps, say eighteen inches for both, or more or less, and then coat the same on one side, or preferably on both sides,with a vuloanizable india-rubber cementing compound, the preparation of which is well known to rubber manufacturers. These strips may be prepared by first coating the knit cloth with the rubber compound and by then cutting it up into strips of requisite width and length. The coated strip is then doubled by folding its edges so as to make the edges meet or nearly meet in the middle of the width of the strap, as shown in Fig. 1. The fold is then permanently formed by pressing the laps down with the hand or otherwise. The crude strap being thus formed, the hook and eye are fastened to the respective ends of the strap by passing them through the loops L of the hook H, or eye E, and by bending the ends over and cementing them down onto the strap. I then use a studded roller or wheel called stitching-tool, and run it along a line parallel with the folded edge of the strap and indent the rubber cement, which, being yet in its plastic state, will permanently retain the impressions. A more finished appearance will be given to the strap by forming the stitch on the surface of the crude strap before the hooks are put on. The strap may be painted and varnished in black or in any other color, either before or after the ends which hold the hook and eye are cemented down.

They are then placed in the heater, where the rubberis cured or vulcanized. The strap when finished has on one end a hook, while at the other it is provided with the corresponding eye. They may be cut in two or furnished to the trade in one piece, leaving it to the carriage-maker to sever them into lengths according to his judgment. This manufacture may be modified in many particulars or details Without essentially departing, however, from the method described. Thus, instead of the knit cloth, a woven fabric may be used, provided that the strips are cut bias-.4. e., in a fine bisecting or dividing the angle formed by the threads of the fabric. Instead of making the straps in lengths equal to the united length of the hook-and-eyestrap, and with the hook and eye attached to the respective ends, they may be made separately, or a hook or an eye may be attached to each end, and many other obvious modifications dictated by expediency or convenience may be effected, which it would be too lengthy to enumerate.

Having thus fully described my invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, I shall state my claims, as follows:

1. The production, as an article of manufacture, of straps for the apron and (lasher of carriages, provided with the ordinary hook and eye, combining a certain degree of elasticity with strength and durability, the whole beiu g coated with a cement or varnish impermeable to Water, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The formation of straps for apron and dasher of carriages, and for other like purposes, of an extensible fabric, in combination with a vulcanized elastic rubber compound, cemented upon one or both sides of the strap, su stantially as set forth.

3. The method of finishin g the edge of straps, made of an extensible fabric coated with a vulcanizable rubber compound, by forming previous to vulcanization a cemented lap-edge and by indenting the surface to produce the effect of stitching, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. GOODYEAR, JR.

YVitnesses:

JOHN R. Monnons, A. PoLLoK. 

